Musical legend David Bowie has died after a secret 18 month battle with cancer.

The shock news comes just a month after he attended the opening night of his new show Lazarus in New York.

Making a rare public appearance, the Thin White Duke looked happy and tanned as he greeted fans outside New York's Theatre Workshop on December 12, before watching the musical based on his new track of the same name.

David Bowie at the Theatre Workshop in New York in December (Image: AKM-GSI / Splash News)

We now know the star was struggling with his illness at the time, but still managed to stop and greet fans who gathered outside of the theatre.

The star's final appearance came at the beginning of December (Image: AKM-GSI / Splash News)

In recent years Bowie had been plagued by reports he was ill, but the resurgence of his career in 2013 with the release of The Next Day, his first album in a decade appeared to alleviate the fears.

Despite his illness he made time to greet fans (Image: AKM-GSI / Splash)

His almost decade long, temporary retirement came after a health scare in 2004 when he collapsed when coming off stage in Germany during his Reality tour. He was flown by helicopter to hospital where he had emergency surgery.

A long-time smoker and drug user, Bowie put his health under strain for many years.

In 2013 there had been rumours he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

David Bowie's Lazarus music video

The star appeared in the video for the track

However, refuting the claims Tony Visconti, who was a long-term collaborator with the singer insisted the rumours were unfounded.

“He is as sharp as a tack. He is sharper than ever. This boy has not lost a single brain cell," he told the Telegraph two years ago.

Bowie was one of the biggest musical influences of modern music (Image: Rex)

“He couldn’t have done two years of work if he was a sick man. He’s very healthy, he’s very fit. He had the heart operation and that’s it. He’s long since recovered from that.”

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The shock announcement has sparked an out-pouring of grief from fans around the globe as they wake up to the news the star has passed away just two days after his 69th birthday marked by the release of his first album in three years Blackstar.

Ziggy Stardust was Bowie's most famous alter-ego (Image: Rex)

Posts to his official social media accounts revealed the sad news that he'd been battling the illness for longer than a year: "January 10 2016 - David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief."

Underneath a touching picture of himself as a toddler being carried by his famous father, he wrote: "Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all."

Bowie with wife Iman (Image: Rex)

David's super model wife Iman is yet to comment on the heartbreaking news, however, yesterday she shared a cryptic post reading: "The struggle is real, but so is God."

The couple, who have 15-year-old daughter Alexandria together, have been married since 1992.

Prior to this relationship, the rocker was married from 1970-1980 to Angie Bowie, who is currently living in the Celebrity Big Brother house and has been speaking openly about their time together.

David Bowie dies: Memorable moments

Born David Robert, the singer decided to embrace a stage a name just before the release of his debut record Man of Words, Man of Music in 1967, renaming himself after 19th Century American frontiersman Jim Bowie and the knife he made famous.

The star's contribution to music can never be under-estimated (Image: Getty)

Shortly afterwards, he met his first wife Angie, who was working at his record label. The pair hit it off instantly and she went on to have a huge impact on his career, even helping to create his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust.

In 1972, an appearance on Top Of The Pops embedded his Ziggy Stardust person and rocketed his level of fame.

Opening up about hwy he decided to create the character, he explained: "Offstage I'm a robot. Onstage I achieve emotion. It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David."

David went on to record 27 studio albums, eight live albums and ten compilation albums.